Method and System for Selective Initial Television Channel Display

ABSTRACT

A novel electronic program guide (EPG) based method and system for the distribution and display of programs enables the system service provider to determine which program a subscriber will initially see upon power-up of the subscriber&#39;s television receiver. The service provider maintains one or more Initial Program Display Tables that list information about programs to be displayed upon power-up of subscribers&#39; receivers, from highest priority to least priority. The Initial Program Display Table or Tables are periodically transmitted to all of the subscribers and stored by the subscribers&#39; set-top boxes. Upon power-up of a subscriber&#39;s receiver, the set-top box will attempt to cause the receiver to immediately display the highest ranked program from the Initial Program Display Table. The service provider controls which programs are displayed upon initial power-up and the ranking of programs in the case where there is difficulty displaying the highest ranked program.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of co-pending application Ser.No. 10/269,918, filed on Oct. 11, 2002, which claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/339,802, entitled “Method and Systemfor Selective Initial Television Channel Display,” filed Oct. 22, 2001.Each of the above identified applications is incorporated by referencein its entirety.

FIELD

The present invention broadly related to multiple-subscriber programdistribution and display systems, such as those involving cable,satellite and line-of-sight television broadcast deliver methods.

BACKGROUND

Television receivers and television reception systems (including thosewhich make use of a set-top box) are typically designed to function inone of two ways when the receiver is turned on for viewing programs: thereceiver remains on the same cannel that was being viewed when it wasturned off at the end of the previous viewing session; or, the receiveris always re0tunded to the same default channel when it is turned on atthe beginning of each new viewing session. This feature is observedwhether the television received in a stand-alone device, or whether itis combined with other turning/reception devise or circuits (e.g.,set-top boxes) as part of a television broadcast/distribution systemusing any variety of deliver methods, including, for example, cable,satellite, and lint0fo sight.

When the television reception system uses an Electronic Program Guide(EPG) the default channel may be a channel displaying the general orfirst screen of the EPG to provide a user/subscriber with information oncurrent and future programs broadcast over the system. As is known inthe art, the EPG, in addition to providing links to the programsavailable to the subscriber, can also provide additional informationabout programs, such as the cannels, start and stop times, programlengths, program ratings, program genres, and program descriptions andsynopses.

After the television receiver is turned on and maintained on thepreviously viewed channel or set to the routine default channel, thesubscriber/user is then free to change channels and view desiredprogramming.

While subscribers in a television broadcast/distribution system may findlittle or no problems with the aforementioned power-up initial channelsettings, this arrangement represents loss of revenue and promotionalopportunities for the system service providers. That is, by receiversautomatically tuning to the same channel viewed at the end of theprevious session, which channel was chosen by the viewer, the serviceprovider does not have the opportunity to more directly influencesubscribers' viewing habits during the initial viewing stage. The samedrawback is present in systems where the exact same default channel istuned to when the receiver is turned on, since the service providermight like to have the subscribers' initial attention drawn elsewhere.

BRIEF SUMMARY

In view of the aforementioned limitations of the prior art, the presentinvention provides a method of setting a subscriber's program receptiondevice to an initial-program. The method at least includes the steps of,via a service provider, broadcasting a plurality of programs for viewingor reproduction, via a receiver, receiving the plurality of programs, atthe direction of the service provider, selecting for initial viewing orreproduction on the program reception device, a program chosen by theservice provider, and enabling the initial viewing or reproduction bythe subscriber, of the program selected.

The present invention also provides a program broadcast/distributionsystem. The system at least includes, a service provider adapted tobroadcast a plurality of programs for viewing or reproduction, and areceiver adapted to receive the plurality of programs. The serviceprovider is adapted to select for initial viewing or reproduction on theprogram reception device, an initial program chosen by the serviceprovider. The receiver is adapted to enable the initial viewing orreproduction by the subscriber, of the initial program selected by theservice provider.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent tothose skilled in the art from the description below, with reference tothe following drawing figures, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of the present-inventive programdistribution and display system; and

FIG. 2 is a flow chart detailing the steps of the algorithm of thepresent inventive method for initially displaying programs upon power-upof a subscriber's viewing hardware.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A system 100 capable of implementing the present-inventive method forestablishing (by the Service Provider) the initial program to which thetelevision receiver will be tuned upon power up, is shown in FIG. 1. Thesystem 100 nominally includes a Service Provider 110 and many set-topboxes 140 serving system subscribers. The set-top boxes 140 can be ofthe variety found in many cable or satellite television systems, withthe ability to both receive and transmit information. The set-top boxes140 generate the EPGs used by the system, and place the programsreceived from the Service Provider in a format suitable for display ondisplays such as the one 150.

Among the many components of the Service Provider function, are thenovel inclusion of an Initial Program Display Table or Tables 120, forstoring the initial programs to be displayed upon receiver power-up.And, the system 100 also includes many program sources, such as the one170 symbolically representing a content provider.

The Initial Program Display Table lists by priority, the programs to beinitially displayed. It is possible to operate the present inventionwith only one initial program selected by the Service Provider. However,a better approach is to include a list of initial programs that areranked, in case there is difficulty (by the receiver) locating ordisplaying particular initial programs selected.

With the aid of the present invention, the Service Provider can bycommercial arrangement with content providers and advertisers, decidewhich program subscribers will initially see when the subscriber turnson his/her television receiver. For example, a content provider mightpay the Service Provider a premium to have his/her program available tocapture the initial and undivided attention of the subscribers, beforethe subscribers have had a chance to change channels.

The Initial Program Display Table or Tables can include, in addition tothe name of each program, a program channel identifier, a program starttime, a program end time, a program weight, and a program maximumprobability. The program weight and maximum probability are used toestablish a hierarchy among programs to be initially displayed, in casea subscriber's set-top box has difficulty tuning to the first choice.The set-top box would then automatically attempt to tune to the highestranked program according to the table, until one is initially displayed.

One Initial Program Display Table can serve all of the subscribers inthe system. Alternatively, a separate Initial Program Display Table canbe transmitted to designated subscribers who are grouped according tocommon characteristics or demographics.

The general algorithm 200 employed by the present invention isillustrated in FIG. 2. The algorithm is partially implemented by theService Provider and partially implemented by the set-top boxes.

After the start (Step 202), the algorithm 200 determines whether thereis to be a change in the Initial Program Display Table (Step 204). Forexample, since the last update to the Initial Program Display Table 120,the Service Provider might have reached a new agreement with a contentprovider to initially feature the content provider's program withsubscribers upon the subscribers turning on their television receivers.If there is to be a change to the Initial Program Display Table, this isaccomplished in Step 206. Otherwise, the algorithm advances to Step 208,where the Initial Program Display Table is periodically transmitted tosubscribers.

If a subscriber has turned on his or her television receiver, theset-top box converts the Initial Program Table information into channelinformation, and then attempts to tune to the highest priority programfrom the Table (Steps 210 and 212). If the subscriber has not turned onthe television receiver, the algorithm returns to Step 204.

If the set-top box can successfully tune to the program indicated by theInitial Program Display Table, that program is initially displayed uponpower-up of the television receiver (Steps 214 and 218). If not, theset-top box attempts to tune to the next highest priority program fromthe Initial Program Display Table (Step 216).

In Step 220, the Service Provider provides a recommended programs listto the 10 set-top boxes, which list can be displayed via an EPG. Therecommended programs list can be constructed according to agreement withcontent providers, and unbeknownst to users. For example, a contentprovider wishing to have his or her program widely viewed can throughpayment and agreement, have his or her program appear first on therecommended programs list of all of the viewers/users serviced by theService Provider. The Recommended Programs List can automatically appearon the user's display at the beginning of each viewing session. Userswould be more likely to at least initially tune-in to the recommendedprograms. As an additional value-added service, the Service Provider canhighly recommend a particular content provider's program to those userswho are more likely to have an interest.

The subscriber then operates the television receiver normally, startingwith Step 222. The algorithm stops at Step 224.

Variations and modifications of the present invention are possible,given the above description. However, all variations and modificationswhich are obvious to those skilled in the art to which the presentinvention pertains are considered to be within the scope of theprotection granted by this Letters Patent.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: transmitting content items;generating data describing a hierarchical ranking of the content itemsthat is configured to be usable by first and second devices to determinechannel information for attempting to present one or more of the contentitems, and is configured to cause the first and second devices to becontrolled to: attempt to present, upon initially being caused topresent content, a first content item having a highest ranking withinthe hierarchical ranking of the content items based on the channelinformation, and proceed, if unable to present the first content item,through the hierarchical ranking of the content items in rank orderuntil a second content item within the hierarchical ranking of thecontent items is presentable; and transmitting the data describing thehierarchical ranking of the content items to the first and seconddevices.